The Rise of the Independants WormGamer OC Story
by k.cadamban
Summary: Iravan wakes up in an Alleyway with no memories and weird powers which he thinks are just delusions. With his triggering still going on, He blacks out. Later he wakes up and finds out he was saved my the mysterious LadyBug. Who is she? Why is she wearing a costume? and Who is he? Follow Iravan as he unravels the mysteries one by one. Rated T for Swearing. May change later on.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: The Worm and Gamer are not mine by copyright.I am just using the characters there to write a story of my own fantasy. And as such this is my first story and would like your constructive criticism.**

 **DAY 1**

I opened my eyes slowly with a groan. Everything aches. My whole body, no...,whole being is a massive exercise in pain. Everything's so bright that my vision falters, questioning whether am I in hell or slowly my vision focused the pain receded. I am in some kind of alley. With my body leaning on a dumpster,I removes the possibility of heaven.

I wait for a few moments to get bearings. First, I need to get out of this , I adjust myself and try to lift myself up, grabbing the dumpster for balance. With the pain gone, I am able to move a bit faster and get on my feet. I look down and find that my clothes in rags. My pants are ripped apart. Did I transform in the Hulk? No, I don't think so as I don't think I went near any nuclear devices emitting gamma radiation nor did I inject myself with some super serum.

Coming to think of it. What did I do last night to be in this state or the night before. I wince a bit as I close my eyes to remember. I don't recall anything. For that matter I don't remember anything. My breathing hitches as I start to hyperventilate and panic. I don't remember anything, no name,no home nothing. Who am I?

Fuck,fuck,fuckity fuck. My breath calms down. Something forces me to focus. I look around for any clues. That's when I notice something flashing in the bottom corner of my vision. I tilt my head in that direction. The flashing moves along with it. Again, What the fuck?

I close my eyes. I see it still flashing. Am I going Insane? I punch the dumpster, strangely when my hand passes through the flashing I see a blue transparent screen.

" **Trigger in progress"**

What? What the fuck is this? I see a close button **"** **X"** on the prompt just like a computer message. What to do now? May be I finally cracked. Delusions are my only company for now. I murmur "Close" to try and close the message. It closes.

I need some help.

A screen fills up my vision.

 **Help - Commands**

 **Status**

 **Skills**

 **Inventory**

Am I in a Game? An A. ? nope. An AI won't have these options, probably or they have. Virtual Reality perhaps? I don't know. Everything looks real to me. And why would I forget myself in a VI game, if this is a game? So mostly I think I am real. This is the real world. This concludes that I am an Amnesiac with weird delusions. Probably am going to the nuthouse when someone discovers it. For now I think I'll just go along with it.

I called out "Status"

 **Name : Iravan Kalvahn**  
 **Class : ?**

 **Job : Student**

 **Age : 16**  
 **Level : LV2**  
 **HP : 100/100 Health( Base Level(100) +** **Custom Points** ***10)**  
 **PWR : 50/50 Power Level(** **Base Level** **(50) +** **Custom Points** ***10)**  
 **STR : 8 Strength**  
 **DEX : 6 Dexterity**

 **AGI : 4 Agility**  
 **INT : 5 Intelligence as a measure of Knowledge**  
 **INL : 12 Intellect as a measure of "Smartness" of "Brain**

 **Capabilities"**

 **PNTS : 5 Unspent Points**  
 **MNY : $0 Money on Hand**

?

My mind is blank.

A few minutes pass. Okay. This list is interesting. The definition of and differentiation between Intelligence and Intellect is Insightful, Proving that it's not a delusion as how could I create something I don't know. Or maybe my subconscious knows and accessing past memories to come up with it. But the subconscious is just a basic reptilian functions acting like a computer with the rules governed by basic instincts. It doesn't have any higher level reasoning. Ahhh! so confusing.

For now I close the prompt and call out Skills.

" **No skill books or manual learning aids for skills"**

That makes sense. I call out Inventory . Same result, empty. Okay.

One positive thing is that I got my name, Iravan. Apparently am an High School Student and Now the only thing left is to remember the rest of my life. Easy peasy.

" **Due to figuring out a part of your problem and understanding it, your INL grows by 1"**

Ah! Progress. At Least one good thing happened, even if it's in the delusion. Gotta take positives when we can right? Now to get out of this hellish place.

I start towards the street when an Idea struck me. I look around the dumpster and inside it also. I notice a damaged wallet and a School ID. Wallet is empty predictably. The school ID is a Find. Hurrah for Iravan.

The ID gives my Home address and School Name. I am apparently living in Brockton Suburbs and am going to Brockton school. My next of kin is listed as Mira Kalvahn, Mother. Hopefully I can find my home and my mom before dawn.

With purpose now I move towards the street and look towards the road and search for any street signs. With any luck I might figure out a way home.I start to hear a high pitch noise and my mind explodes with pain.

" **Due to Integration of the module ...error...error...error...error"**

Shut up.

My vision fades.

Again I wake up to nothingness. Apparently I just triggered. Useless delusions are my powers I think. Where the fuck would I get a skill book for skills? And whom do I get to help me?. And who would believe me. Heck I wouldn't believe me. I think I should just play along but keep this to myself.

Time to open my eyes.

First thing I see is the room is bright. Very bright. As my eyesight adjusts, I look around and notice the room is very spartan. There is the bed I am lying on in a corner facing the door with no windows to the outside world and a desk.

I try to rise up. Hopefully no pain.

My muscles screech in exertion but no pain. What the fuck is wrong with me?

"Status"

 **Name : Iravan Kalvahn**  
 **Class : ?**

 **Job : Student**

 **Age : 16**  
 **Level : LV2**  
 **HP : 700/700**  
 **PWR : 50/50**

 **STA : 80/100**  
 **STR : 8**  
 **DEX : 6**

 **AGI : 4**  
 **INT : 5**  
 **INL : 1** **3**  
 **POINTS : 5**

 **MONEY : $0**

No changes...wait.I notice my **HP** has leveled up and a New stat I think **STA** meaning stamina was introduced I think. "Skills"

 **Physical Endurance Lvl** **25** **(Passive): Due to error causing prolonged trigger event you have** **tolerated** **highest amount of pain. This has made you to tolerate high levels of pain.**

 **Body of Endurance (Passive): Due to tolerating high levels of pain you have developed indomitable endurance causing an increase in your health. Addition two points every time you level up.**

This is good news. To check I bite my little finger enough to cause pain. I feel it, but it doesn't affect my ability to think. Good...very good.

The door opens and a girl walks in. I just then notice I am naked with only a blanket covering my privates and my legs. Fuck. With high level embarrassment and a manly squeal I throw a pillow towards her and pull the blanket up. See, I have a pudgy body with manboobs, I don't want others to see them.

"Sorry" she says.

"Its..its...okay, .. an accident" I stutter.

This is not a romantic comedy damnit. But i had never talked to girls before let alone letting them see me half naked. Did I mention that I have a body complex? For a good reason too. She was probably attractive under that mask too. Did i say she was wearing a mask? Yeah she does. So does that mean we have superheroes and supervillains and other cliched and assorted comic book stuff? But all that aside first and foremost,

"Where am I?" I ask.

"You are in my hide out in Brockton Dumps. I brought you here when i found you in the alley"

"You didn't take take me to the hospital?" An Obvious question and what does she mean by her hideout? Is she a villain? Nah then she would have said domain or something cliched like that.

"Yeah I didn't. I know a bit about medicine. I thought you had undergone a triggering as you had bloody tatters on but no wounds on you. Didn't want you to get the notice of the PRT without any reason. Thought you could get more choices this way"

That was a good choice.

"So, who are you? Sorry for sounding like an inconsiderate ass, but i find you helping me a bit worrisome"

She stared at me for a moment.

"I am Lady Bug. An independent super. Or trying to be one anyway. I found you in my patrol path and thought I could help you. What about you?"

Lady bug? Okay. A hero at least. That's good.

"Thank you. I am Iravan Kalvahn, I think. I don't remember much and I don't even know my powers yet. By your note I think I have regeneration. As you can see, I am not even that built. So no physical strength or agility or anything." If this is a super power then the key word is 'Yet'.

"Oh fuck. You have amnesia? I should have taken you to the hospital...fuck...fuck...are you alright? do you any pain in your head? any swelling?", she comes over and fusses over my head checking for the swelling. With her close proximity swelling in my head is not the problem, swelling in other places is. GOd she smells heavenly. Oh no, Bad Iravan, Bad thoughts. Down boy.

"Hey ...no down. You didn't know." I say and move myself a bit away from her to prevent any embarrassing accidents. Probably she had seen everything when she had removed my clothes. Damn, not fair, she saw me and I didn't her…...BAd Iravan...Very very bad.

We stared at each other for an awkward while.

"I should probably leave then. I have to find out where I live and meet my mom. Hey that reminds me, did you find my student ID near where you found me?"

"Yeah. I have it with me. Dont worry. I found out where you live. I can take you there after some now just rest for a while... I'll meanwhile see if I can get any other information on you. I know someone who goes to your school. I can ask if any other info on you is available or not."

"Alright. I just need to inform My mom that I am okay. She's probably worried...I think...not sure"

"Sure. It's been 6 Hours since I found you in the alley. That's a bit near your home if you wanna know. I'll meanwhile investigate a bit and let you know by noon today. Cya"

With that she left. And I drifted of to sleep.

It was about noon when I woke up again. On the desk next to me was a note, underneath a glass of water and a bag which I assumed to be food.

I saw blinking icon in the bottom of my vision again. I concentrated on it willing it to maximise.

" **Main Triggering complete. Prob** **lem with memory module, working on it.** **Please access Help for options available"**

I thought "Help"

 **HELP**

 **COMMANDS**

 **OPTIONS**

I accessed commands and saw that I can access Inventory, Skills and Status.I accessed Options. It gave me the options to toggle minimised notifications which I kept minimised, transparent messages which i also kept the same, and oddly auto application of stats was on and which I toggled also had a message that as I leveled I would be able to create options myself.

Now back to reality I drank the water on the table and started reading the note.

" _Hi Iravan. Found some detail about your parents. Your mom is single, I_ _don't_ _know about your dad. She also works for the PRT as a scientist working long hours. As of now she had been working on some projects_ _consecutively_ _without break and has left the house in your care. Also you go to school at Brockton Bay. I managed to get my friend to inform your_ _homeroom_ _teacher that you are down with some nasty bug and got you some leave for a when I came here I saw that you were sleeping and not wanting to disturb you I got some soup and veggie_ _sandwiches_ _not knowing your health.I'll come by in the evening, meanwhile feel free to explore the hideout – LB"_

Nice. Now onwards to food.

I realised I was practically starving as I practically inhaled all the food and still wanted more. But not wanting to be ungrateful, I pushed that to a deep corner in my mind and stood up. As I did so, I found another package near the foot of my bed. I opened it and found a black t-shirt and a black track bottoms. Also found some shoes near the same place. Shrugging, I just wore them. This girl is really a good girl. I need to repay her somehow for help.

I went outside the room and found it connected to a large basement which was empty but clean, was about five times bigger than the bedroom and had some lights to illuminate it. It also had a ladder in a corner. I walked to the ladder and found that It ended with a trapdoor at the top. So this was a hidden basement I concluded. I went up and opened the trap door and climbed up. What I saw completely blew my mind. The land was literal garbage dump with flies all over the place. The place I came up from was a clearing fortunately. I think from observing further, I inferred that this place had been abandoned after filling it up. Fortunately for my savior, this gave her a perfect place to hide and also a good base of operations. Wonder how she found the place.

"Impressive , isn't it?"

Squeaking , definitely in a manly way I jumped around to find Lady Bug there with a school bag.

"Stop doing that! You almost gave me a heartattack"

"Sorry. Couldn't help myself, hehe." she replied smugly. "Like the place?" She enquired.

"Yeah, Yeah, A perfect hideout". Though I wanted to, I didn't ask too many questions to not come off as nosy.

"Let's go inside. Got some school work for you to finish when you return. Also have some things to talk about".

I nodded and followed her through the trapdoor to the inside. What a great view. I meant the dumpster. Definitely the dump. Great dump. Great ass. No great dump. Bad Iravan. No inappropriate thoughts about your savior.

Once we made ourselves comfortable on the floor resting our backs on the wall, She started.

"So, what have you decided to do about your powers?"

"I still dunno, probably gonna keep my powers a secret which probably gonna be hard and all, with my mom being in PRT. Other than that still figuring out my powers. Probably the week you bought will be good enough to get an Idea."

"Good Idea. No need to rush through anything. I did the same when I triggered. Though my triggering put me in coma for a month and made it easier to hide." She agreed.

Then she removed her mask and I was dumb struck again. In front of me was a beautiful girl with almond shaped black eyes and brown hair in a pony tail.

"Um...You...you look b...beautiful"

She blushed. So CUTE.

"Th..thank you. If you wanna talk to someone, you can talk to me. My name is Taylor, I have been the friendly neighbourhood bug whisperer for about two days", she smiled. God she was beautiful.

Then it stuck me. She's my age and she also mentioned she 'knew' someone in my school which was her I bet. Oh fuck.

"DO we know each other before?" I asked, scratching my nose sheepishly, "Were we friends or something? Cause if not I apologise now. No I apologise anyway for not remembering you. You know..Amnesia and all"

"Wow, that was a good guess. It's alright, If you wanna know we were kinda acquaintances and common victims to the Bitchy triumvirate."

"Oh...okay. Bitchy triumvirate?" So i was bullied a bit in school. Alright.

"I'll tell you about them later if you don't get your memories back. Though you weren't as victimised as me you did have some moments with them"

"Okay, I guess. Hearing about them bullying me would be so awkward" I replied. Yeah really, who would want to know about their moments of wimpiness. Then remembering the clothes and other stuff, "Hey, thank you for taking care of me and the clothes and now trusting me with your secret identity and probably my you. If you need any help let me know, I would do everything i could to help you.And I promise I won't betray your trust however my character was before."

"Hey..hey..chill out, no need to stress over it. I am just glad I found someone going through the same stuff as me." She smiled. I just smiled back. A few moments passed, thankfully not awkward this time.

"So, I think it's time for me to leave. Do you want to stay here today or do you want to leave?" she asked.

"Yeah, Wanna go home. Have to see the place and also see the way to school"

"Ok cool. Just wait a bit. Let me change my costume and I'll guide you home and see the school".

"Sure"

With that we left for my home. I saw the school on the way and after some time walking we reached the suburbs and a few minutes walking further we reached a house with the door with _"_ _Kalvahn"_ engraved on a gold plated plaque _._ Damn, my mom must have been rich. Definitely upper class.

"I think the spare key is under the pot over there. Managed to locate it in the morning", She pointed out. Throwing a grateful look towards her, I went and found my key and opened the door.

"Come in." I invited her.

"It's alright. I have to leave anyway. My dad would get antsy waiting for me as he doesn't know my alter ego. My patrol also doesn't start again for another week by my schedule, so, am saving my excuses till then",she laughed. It was musical, enchanting and absolutely captivating. Need to resist Taylorinol. I shook my head clearing my dirty thoughts.

"Okay. Let's meet again when you have time again. I'll be mostly at home. We can figure something about this business together if you like".

She nodded to that and agreed with a handshake and after that with a wave she left.

"Okay time to learn about me", and I entered the house.

I saw that it was a decent sized home with a door on the left to go to the basement I guess. There was a living room with a visible kitchen further inside. The living room had a big TV and a DVD rack with movies. Moving towards the kitchen I saw another door on the left. I opened and looked inside. It was a study with a round table with sime chairs and a computer on a table. Also it had a few shelves with books inside.

I closed the door and marking mentally to look inside the study later, opposite to the study I saw stairs going up, which I guessed to the bedrooms. The kitchen had a Table with all the standard cooking items and a fridge with some sticky notes on it.

" _Hey Iravan. Have stacked some food for eating inside. Also have stored some vegetables and meat for you to cook later. Make sure to eat properly and sleep. Call me every other day. This is office number in case you forget and love you – Mom"_

Cool. If I guess right I should be at least calling her today or tomorrow. I'll call her tomorrow. With that I moved to the stairs to go up. There was a hallway with three rooms. One of those is mine I guess. I opened the first one It was a master bedroom and looking into it I found it's my mom seeing, some lady stuff on the chair. Closing I went to the next room and opened it to have a queen size bed with nothing else inside. Guessing it to be the Guest room I went to the last room. I opened it and saw inside.

Holy fucking shit. I must have been living like a pig. There were clothes strewn about. There was a laptop on the desk with a smartphone connected to the socket on the wall. First I went inside and managed to locate one laundry basket. I picked it up and started to fill it up with the clothes on the floor. After that I got the vacuum cleaner I found under the kitchen sink and cleaned my room. After an hour of back breaking work,

" **Skill Housecleaning added to** **repertoire** **. Due to diligent cleaning your perception has increased. 1 to INT. Also due to your physical exertion 1 to DEX"**

Cool. This is like my own personal organiser and tracker. After all the work and feeling a bit happy with the results, I opened the desk my computer was on and started going through stuff in my drawers and room to get myself familiar with myself again. And I want to know if I can get any clues to what happened yesterday that lead me to be mugged. Meanwhile Seeing my phone dead, I switched on the charger to charge my phone.

After going through the Drawers and the Closet I found a stash of diaries and a photobook.

" **Personal** **memory** **data books obtained. Integrating memories and releasing hold of the Memory bank in 5 minutes"**

Before I could react I again blacked out with the diaries burning into ashes and them entering my head.

 **Name : Iravan Kalvahn**  
 **Class : ?**

 **Job : Student**

 **Age : 16**  
 **Level : LV2**  
 **HP : 700/700**  
 **PWR : 50/50**

 **STA : 80/100**  
 **STR : 8**  
 **DEX : 7**

 **AGI : 4**  
 **INT : 6**  
 **INL : 13**  
 **POINTS : 5**

 **MONEY : $0**

DAY 1 End


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This is an alternate universe using elements from Worm and Gamer which is not mine by copyright. This story is from my own fantasies and may differ from Worm a Lot. Also this is my first story, Thanks you in advance for the criticism which would help me make this story better.**

 **Day 2**

I woke from my third blackout in possibly two days. Fortunately I remember everything now. Almost everything. Fucking God..This whole power shtick is a big pain in my ass. Still dunno what I was doing in that alley way that night.

Processing my returned memories, I felt disgust towards my old self. The old me was a lazy ass and a whiny coward and it gets even worse, the old me supposedly had a crush on one of the bitchy triumvirate who tormented him on and off, what a masochist. Damn it again. I hate my old me.

Thats weird, I thought as I got up from my bed. Old Me? Yeah. There is a disconnect in me pretrigger and post trigger a good thing too. Moving towards the window , I see that it's only starting to dawn. Walking towards desk and picking up my cell phone it's 5 AM in the morning.

Back to the trigger schism, I guess I got the memories but not the awareness or ego I had for those memories. Oh, this whole stuff is making me confused and crazy.

" **For reasoning out your current situation you got +2 INT and +3 INL"**

My power seems to agree with my reasoning good. Thinking about my power, I need to know what I can do with it. Obviously all those stats are affecting me if my reasoning skills has increased as I have gone from being a Moron to a slightly more than average Logical person. Similarly I have to see if I can plan out if I can increase my other stats. I absorbed my memories through books, maybe books could help?

I had recovered memories from my diaries. I can learn skills from books. Like Neo. In Matrix. Oh My Motherfucking God! Am I the one? Oh fuck! Probably Agent Smith can invade my home anytime. Fuck what home? This shit ain't real.

I can't breath. Panic attack. Damn it everything blackens out.

'brrrrr' my stomach growled. I woke to the sound of my stomach. That was embarrassing. Maybe if I become a hero I should be called _**Blackout Man.**_ _Bah!_ Guessing by no notifications It means I am not in Matrix or the Matrix wants me to think that I am not in the Matrix. 'brrrr **rrr** ' a larger roar emanates from my stomach demon. Guess conspiracies can wait till the demon is satisfied. Onward ho! To the kitchen.

While making food, I was returning to my thoughts about my old self. Is this power changing me so much that I am feeling a disconnect to my past? Would the same occur in the future? if so How to counteract that? or Should I counteract that? So many questions and so little answers….hmmm….

Yet Another thought was on Taylor. I have no doubt now that I have some sort of crush on her. Being a kind soul and fellow tormented made it really not hard for that. But for now I have stow that thought for another time. Have a lot of things to figure out and a lot less time by the look of it if I wanted to help her. Also need to think about explaining to my mother about my situation. Damn. That's a complicated one. She's on the PRT and I don't want them to know about me, for now. Fuck, This sucks. Maybe I can explain this to her after some explanation at a later date. That would be easy as long as she's on the ongoing projects there, considering she's a workaholic. And with me pushing her away and my fights with her she has no tether at home. Damn, I am an Whiny Asshole. Need to correct myself.

The food was ready. I took three cuts of steak and some herb rice to go with it and practically finished it within two minutes. What? I was starving from yesterday. Now, to the drawing board.

* * *

I entered the study. Ah, the rustic smell the of books. I might even become a bookworm now, who knows.

Alright! Now though I've heard about RPG games, I know very little about them. First need to know how they are played before doing so in my life itself.

So I started about browsing the internet about the topic and found a lot of details after some hours of research.

" **Due to diligent training, a new skill has been added. skill increases you reading and comprehension speed when active."**

I need to experiment a bit and learn a bit more about my powers before making plans. I need some open space for this, hmmm…. The basement then.

Once reached the basement i started at first to stretch myself as I had learned on the net. Next I started Spot Jumping till ai ran out of breath, which one as after 5 minutes. Still not in the mood of giving up, I started d again after 2 mins. I did this for about 10 times. Slowly I started to see that jumping was becoming easier. After another 2 reps I saw the message I was waiting for.

" **Due to diligent training stats have been improved. +1 AGI +20STA +1DEX"**

Awesome. Now push-ups. I started with 5 with a minute of rest and repeated and slowly had increased to 10 by the end of an hour.

" **Due to diligent training stats have been improved. +2 STR +10STA"**

I was whooping now. And was in middle of a victory dance when another message came.

" **Due to forethought and planning you have learned how to increase your stats. +2INL +4INT. +1LVL due to experience from training"**

Alright. I am the man. Now as suspected I have found that

Stats are trainable.

Training has become easier and growth will be more visible.

Thought and planning before actions increase INTELLECT. I suspect so will reflecting on things and understanding stuff around me.

Memory and Recall is handled by INTELLIGENCE. By just blind reading I can train this stat.

POWER also can be trained I guess but i need to experiment whether this is KI or CHAKRA or MANA or PSI or a combination of them. Meditation might help.

So to cover the last point, I sat comfortably on the mat and closed my eyes. I started to concentrate first on different parts of my body to feel it starting slowly from my head to my toes. I concentrated on my breathing in and out, in and out, in and out. Slowly my mind cleared itself of thoughts. I started to feel a well of energy inside me. I dove further in myself wanting to feel more. It felt warm, soothing filling me with confidence, content and satisfaction. I slowly drew on a it and brought it to the forefront in my mind. I concentrated it in front of my eyes. It refused to move outside of me. It moved against my will, I let it. I studied how it moved. Where it ended in my body and where it began. I couldn't find them. It's like a continuous cycle or a circulatory system. The energy was pervasive in my that in mind I turned my concentration outside and what I learned made me lose the concentration I had.

I opened my eyes with a big gasp. There was the same energy which was inside me on the outside of me. Something clicked. I once had heard a saying while passing by a shop. A guy was telling another guy a quote which was supposed to be trippy.

" _As is outside so is inside_ "

I see that now.

" **For awakening your power through introspection and meditation +20PWR +1INL. Your STA has recovered fully and you are fully rested. Meditation has been added to your Skill Repertoire."**

Wow. Just wow. What a mind trip. This was the awesomest experience ever. Am going to meditate at least an hour everyday. The feelings I felt were simply awesome.

"brrrr… …" there goes my stomach again. I am damn hungry. Onward to lunch. As I moved up the stairs I smelt something bad. I realised It was me. Damn, I smelt rotten. Food can wait. Onward to shower first.

As I entered the bathroom ,I saw my reflection in the mirror. It's the first time I realise that I am seeing myself in a mirror after the triggering. I saw a 5 ft 5' inches tall boy with shaggy black hair. An oval shaped face with black eyes and average features. A body which has yet to lose the baby fat which had accumulated more fat. But I noticed my face and body were a bit leaner than I last saw myself which was 2 days back. Damn, that's some improvement. Now to stop myself from becoming narcissistic, i started the shower and rinsed myself clean.

After a half hour of thorough scrubbing i felt myself clean. Now I can have my dinner. Feeling too tired to cook, I ordered two veggie subs, two cups of noodles and a plate of bacon fries. Unlike my earlier meal I ate slowly savouring the meal. Feeling content I picked a notebook and pen from the study and went to my room.

Now, I needed devise a plan for training. But first remembering my mom I wanted to speak with my mom. It was almost 1 in the noon. Time to call her.

I called her extension in the PRT and after about the 10th ring It was answered.

"Hey Ma"

" _Hey Ira, How are you? Are you doing well?"_

"Yeah mom. Nothing big happening here. How's your research coming along?"

There was a slight pause.

" _What happened Ira? You never ask about me. Is anything wrong?"_

Fuck!

"Nothing's wrong ma. Just thought about some stuff. And decided to change myself you know. From the slothful inconsiderate ass I am. I was feeling guilty about the way I've been treating you too. Sorry. Just saw that life is too short you know to waste on lying on my knees and being an idiot. So just thought I could become better."

There was a long silence in the phone.

" _I am coming home son. (sob) I am happy for this.(more sobbing) I am also sorry son for running not knowing how to handle giving up. (full blown crying) "_

"No need to cry ma. We both gave up. Just finish your research and then come home ma. It's important to the super community as a whole and so after completing it we can spend more time together. I'll call everyday ma. No need to worry"

" _Alright Ira. No problem. You are growing up now. To hear you like this I am happy."_

After that we spent catching up on each others lives and I told her that I was taking a week off to sort out my life and to catch up on what I missed so far in school which was true. She gave me her blessings and told me that I can withdraw some cash for om the joint account we held in the bank in case I needed some cash.

Which was godsend. With the way am eating now I would finish the supplies before she arrives home.

Now for the game plan.

Getting up in the morning at 6 and having a small snack.

A morning run around the whole neighbourhood. Increasing the number every day.

A 15 minute meditation.

Going to the neighbourhood gym starting from tomorrow.

A 15 minute meditation again. Then shower and breakfast.

Studying for the school, SATs and finishing the school work till noon.

Lunch in the noon and afterwards researching about my power.

An evening run by 5 and a session of swimming in the pool nearby.

Meditation for an hour and then dinner.

Time for sleeping.

A nice agenda. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up the timetable. By weekend hopefully I will have improved before my meeting with Taylor.

Now, it was what 3 in the noon? Have some preliminary stuff before regimen. After dressing up I went to the bank to get some money to join the Gym and Swimming Club. I got a 3 month membership in each and went to the bookstore. They had both new and old books. I went to the old books section and found old books on Programming Languages, Electronics, Carpentry, Household repairs and maintenance, also to my luck a big book on martial arts. I bought all of them and brought them home.

After setting everything down, I took the books to the basement and started reading them. After a couple of hours I got the prompt,

" **Want to learn the basics of electronics?**

 **Y/N"**

Yes.

" **Electronic Engineering and Comprehension has been added to your Repertoire"**

" **Want to learn the basics of woodcrafting?**

 **Y/N"**

Yes **.**

" **Woodcrafting has been added to your Repertoire"**

" **Want to learn the basics of programming?**

 **Y/N"**

Yes **.**

" **Programming and Algorithm has been added to your Repertoire"**

" **Want to learn the basics of self defence?**

 **Y/N"**

Yes **.**

" **Self defence has been added to your Repertoire"**

Alright. Now to look into my stats and skills. But before I could check them I got another message.

" **Due to diligent learning +1INT +1INL and a new stat has been added due to your profile. PCP -Perception , a measure of your awareness and ability to take in details. Also updating your profile and skills which had changed after your research"**

I was happy before. Now I practically giddy. I can actually see better and it was though the world has become HD. Time to see my profile and skills.

 **Name** **: Iravan Kalvahn**  
 **Class** **: ?**

 **Job** **: Student**

 **Age** **: 16**  
 **Level** **: LV3**  
 **HP** **: 700/700**  
 **PWR** **: 50/70**

 **STA** **: 189/189(base 130 + 45%)**  
 **STR** **: 10**  
 **DEX** **: 7**

 **AGI** **: 5**

 **PCP** **: 12(base 10 +15%)**  
 **INT** **: 12(base 10 +12%)**  
 **INL** **: 21(base 18 +15%)**  
 **POINTS** **: 10**

 **MONEY** **: $0**

 **Physical Endurance Lvl 30: Due to error causing prolonged trigger event you have tolerated highest amount of pain. This has made you to tolerate high levels of pain. Also affected by meditation as mind over body rule. +5% STA at each 10 levels.**

 **Body of Endurance LVL 60: Due to tolerating high levels of pain you have developed indomitable endurance causing an increase in your health. +5% STA every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **House cleaning Lvl 7 :With each level of house cleaning you increase awareness of your surrounding. +5% PCP every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Meditation Lvl 3:With each level of meditation you understand a bit more about yourself and your surroundings. Your mind becomes clear and strong while your body becomes clear of any fatigue. You recover 50% STA, HP, PWR in 1 hour of meditation. +5%PCP +10%INL every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Research LVL skill increases you reading and comprehension speed when active.+5%INT +5%PCP every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Electronic Engineering and Comprehension LVL 5. This skill makes it possible to comprehend electronics and how to make circuits and devices from them. +2% INL +2%DEX every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Wood Crafting LVL 5. This skill makes it possible to learn the intricacies of wood working and wood carving. +2% INT +2%DEX every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Programming and Algorithm LVL 5. This skill makes it easier to learn the language of computers. Additionally it also improves your planning and decision making skills. +5% INL +5%INT every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Martial Arts LVL0: This skill makes it possible to defend yourself with your body and melee weapons. Requires diligent practise for each level. +2%STR +1%PCP +2%DEX every 10 levels of the skill.**

Oh my fucking god. It seems the base stats are improved by bonuses given by the skills. Fortunately or Unfortunately this is not staggered otherwise I would have had an easy time getting strong. Also It seems the physical stats would not improve till I work it out. Makes sense. The power makes it a bit easier for me to train but not too easy. It would not be a superpower if it didn't make it easier and would be too much op and unbelievable if i became strong too fast. Thats nice.

Also by training in Martial arts and also other weapons by the looks of it will help my stats a lot. Guess training these skills will occupy my post lunch time and post dinner time. With meditation I can shorten my nap time a lot too. Hmm… . Alright.

As I was further daydreaming...hmmm...Planning about my future growth, I heard the doorbell ringing. What an ominous sound. Is it going to be Agents? I slowly move towards the door after picking up a knife from my kitchen. The Doorbell Rings again. I look through the peephole and find that it's the adorable Ms. Taylor Hebert Screw my Paranoia.

I open the door hiding the knife behind my back.

We blink at each other.

"Hey"

"Hey"

Oh man! Welcome to the awkwardness from social outcasts interacting with each other.

"So, was wondering how you were doing? And I came here to check up on you and probably help you out."

"Oh...come on in. Come on in" and I open the door wider to let her in and close the door after her. During which she notices my supposedly hidden weapon.

"Why are you having a knife on your back?" She asks.

"I thought you were Agent Smith", I blabber out before I could stop myself.

"What?" She asks, with a confused expression on her face.

"You might wanna sit down for this".

After sitting down in the Living room with a cup of coffee in each hands, I started explaining what I had found till now and also...the...Matrix incident. Afterwhich she burst out laughing choking on the coffee.

"Yeah, Yeah, Laugh it up now. I am still having doubts this is reality though. Videogame powers? With holes in my memories? That's like Manga and Comic level stuff. Who would believe this?", I mumble, Hiding my face with my hands.

"Oh...God", still chuckling she replies, "It's alright Iravan. Every super hero feels their power is unreal for a while. I've read about this. Going from an average Joe to wielding Reality bending powers is a giant leap. There is going to be a disconnect. So, it's alright. I mean who would think that controlling bugs is a superpower? Rght? But it is. So just chill out man."

Then turning a bit more serious, "Though the memory thing is concerning. I think we may need help on this"

I smile in reply. This girl is so awesome. She made me feel so much better with her words.

" We'll wait it out a bit. Maybe it has to do something with my triggering. We know that triggering happens due to something stressful. I may get it after some time. For now am just gonna go along with the flow".

"Alright Ira. We'll wait a bit", I notice her nickname for me. I feel happy. After a long time I think I've made a friend.

Then we started discussing my plan for the next week. She didn't agree with me about shortened sleep thing, but I convinced her to let me try it for a day and see how it fairs. Though sad that we couldn't come to understand about the energy I felt during meditation, Hopefully I would be able to learn more about the same later on. She also wanted to join me in some exercise sessions and we agreed to Run together in the morning. She didn't want to go to the Gym for now as her father would ask some questions, but she had her own training Regimen. So that was cool.

Afterwards we left the house for the remaining cash I bought some tools for carpentry, electronic components and some more books on programming languages. Also got some small knives to practice throwing and wooden boards and some logs for carpentry. I also surprised Taylor with an Omni-Tool which may help her at home and a Sewing kit hearing her interest in sewing which she accepted after some complaining.

By 7 in the evening we had finished the purchase and split ways. This was a good day. Having a Friend? Or a Partner? Is awesome. Can't wait for tomorrow.

 **Day 2 END.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: The Worm and Gamer are not mine by copyright.I am just using the characters there to write a story of my own fantasy. And as such this is my first story and would like your constructive criticism.**

 **Conviction**

Today's going to be good. I got up by 5 without the alarm. Today is the First in the rest of my super life. And today is going to start by running around the park with my new friend Taylor Hebert. It was 5:45 and I was locking up my house to leave for the Park near her house to meet up. A jog there would be good warm up I think.

As I started, my thoughts automatically turned to my new Friend. Taylor, my fellow bullied in school. Now a superhero or trying to become one. I started to list what I know about her. She is Kind, Noble and had a strength that is difficult to buy in this day and age. Part of me still cringes in thinking about going to school and meeting the Bitchy Trio. I am not going to back down now but I may retaliate back violently, which I know Taylor would never do.

She's one of a kind. And I was an asshole to her even though I was never involved in her bullying. Though I was only bullied by words, bullying for Taylor reached physical level or so I have heard. And every teacher at school is afraid of the Barnes, family to Emma Barnes, One of the accursed trio, to take action against them. I vaguely remember that Taylor was absent for two weeks a month or two back. Was that when she triggered? Should I ask her though?I didn't want to pry and I definitely didn't want to make her uncomfortable by bringing up bad memories. But I am going to definitely apologise to her about my ignorance and selfishness.

By the time I had gotten my thoughts together I had arrived at the Park entrance, Looking at the time I saw that I was a bit early. So I sat down and relaxed. A few minutes later, I heard footsteps and looked up to see that Taylor had arrived. She waved at me as I got up and joined her.

"Good Morning Taylor"

"Good Morning Iravan"

We smiled at each other in greeting. She was wearing a blue tracks and a loose white T-Shirt. I was wearing a Black one and a red t-shirt.

"Shall we start Mi'Lady?", I asked bowing before her as though asking her for a dance.

She giggled at the sight and answered,"Oh Yes Kind Sir".

So we started our Jog around the park. We started slowly and upped our speed gradually. By the time we were near the other end of the park we were pretty much Running at a moderate pace. After a mutual glance at each other we decided to keep this pace and continued our laps. At about the quarter of a distance to the end of the second lap I started to get winded. I pushed a little further and harder till the end and signaled to Taylor that I am going to rest and she can continue. I was bent over the knees taking pained breaths trying to calm down. That was the most I had pushed ever in my life. Looking over my Status page I saw that my Stamina was at its end.

Thinking about recovery I sat down, took control of my breathing and entered the Meditative state. After I came in touch with my energy I started to calm down in it aura, knowing I can't bring it outside I got an idea to first observe its flow and then guide it path to my aching muscles and see what happens. The path of the energy flowing through me was like a circulatory system, not unlike the Blood Circulatory system, Though it didn't have an organ like a heart to pump it though. Slowly I started coaxing the energy little by little to my muscles, after a bit of resistance I got the knack to guide it to the places I want it to go, except outside of course. This caused my aches to reduce and disappear and my muscles to recover faster. I observed the effects and filed it away in my mind later.

" **Through your actions you have unlocked the skill Stamina Restoration. Causes 20% of your power to restore your Stamina Completely"**

This startled me. Seeing this, I opened my status and saw that the Stamina Indeed has been restored while my Power Level was down a bit, But was slowly raising by the rate of 1 Per 5 seconds, It'll be completely restored in 70 Secs. I grinned, It took me ten minutes to exhaust my stamina and I can go on forever if I time it right.

I joined Taylor on her next Lap. Damn, She keeps on going and she looked like she can go another ten laps or so.

"Have you recovered now Ira?",She enquired while running.

"Yeah Taylor. I just found a skill which uses the energy which I told you yesterday to replenish my Stamina. Now I can go for a really long time. Great Uh?".

"What a Hack!, Ira",She mock scowled at me and I just stuck out my tongue at her. We had a small laugh and continued.

She kept up with me for about another 5 Laps before she took a break from recovering. Meanwhile I used _Stamina Replenish_ every two laps. I continued for 10 more laps and Taylor again joined me.

"Recovered now? You are really in good shape Taylor", I complimented her.

She blushed and smiled,"Thank you Ira, you are not that bad yourself."

"Yeah, That's all my power none of it me, though I am pushing each time I take to replenish",I replied.

We had run about 6 more laps when I tried the skill again and blacked out.

"Wake up Ira. Please be alright"

I opened my eyes with a groan and saw a message.

" **You have a small case of Power Exhaustion. Due to constant use of Power your Power Level had leveled up by a point +10PWR but for exhausting it you will have a penalty of Powerrecover 1PWR/Min till it's refilled.**

 **Congrats you have unlocked PWR GEN Stat 0.5 psec , HP GEN Stat 0.5 psec , STAGEN 0.5 psec.**

 **Congrats by training your endurance and speed you have +10STA +5 AGI"**

I had a minor headache but immediately I looked into my status.

 **Name: Iravan Kalvahn**

 **Class: ?**

 **Job: Student**

 **Age: 16**

 **Level: LV3**

 **HP: 700/700** **0.5psec Gen**

 **PWR: 3/70** **0.5psec Gen(penalty 1 per minute)**

 **STA: 189/203** **0.5psec Gen**

 **STR: 10**

 **DEX: 7**

 **AGI: 10**

 **PCP: 12**

 **INT: 12**

 **INL: 21**

 **POINTS: 10**

 **MONEY: $0**

So, If I exhaust myself my PWR recovery will suffer, but exhausting it except 1 PWR is the way to train it I guess. I felt a blow hit the top of my head. I caught my head in pain and looked up to see Taylor scowling at me in anger.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"That was for making me worry you idiot. After dropping like you were dead, you decide wake up and grin like an idiot not minding me...ahem...your surroundings a bit. What were you thinking?", she raved at me with with her fist raised

Understanding her point of view and ...her power of the fist,I apologised,"Sorry. I think every time i used Stamina Replenish the PWR regeneration slowed down a bit and last I used it had used up all of my PWR to restore my stamina. Guess it's a balance, otherwise I could keep going forever. There must be other restrictions, best if we find out now rather than later right?"

Mollified by my apology and explanation, she nodded and mumbled ok. By now it was 7:30 and it was time for school for Taylor and Gym for me. I wanted to talk to her but it was late. I will talk to her in the evening.

"So, How are we going to keep in contact? you know for meeting up and planning and stuff. Do you have a Mobile number I could use or something?"

She grimaced a bit about that. "Um...about that...",she trailed , I must be making her uncomfortable.

"Um...It's alright...we can meet in the morning as always and we can decide to meet up then. Its cool if you don't want to give me-"

"No it's not that. I don't have a mobile, neither does my father for that matter. We have bad experiences with them."

what about her mom?

"What about your mom?"

Her eyes went downcast at that and she became sad.

"My mom died in a car accident while talking on the mobile a few years ago",she informed me softly. Her eyes were tearing now. I took her hands with mine and told her,"Um...Sorry about that Taylor. It's alright. Don't worry about it. As I said earlier we can plan something in the morning".

"No..No...it's good. I need to move on anyway. I didn't have friends since my mom died and Emma became different from then and I lost her as well",oh,Emma was her friend was it?Why did she turn on her?I didn't want to I kept my mouth shut,while she continued, "I need to get a mobile anyway. I have about a 100$ saved up and I can get some cheap mobile online with a prepaid subscription to keep me going".

That gave me an Idea.

"Actually I have a two year old bTouch sitting idly with me at home. It has 4G support and a five subscription paid card at home. You can use up to 10GB data per month free which while not good for heavy downloads but enough for some music and browsing. What do you say? You can consider it my gift."

She looked flabbergasted. At Least it was better than when she cried before.

"But..But..it's an expensive phone. Even for a two year old one. Why would you give it to me? It would be wasted",She protested.

"Look her Taylor. You are my first friend in my life. You saved me when I triggered and took care of me even when I had behaved like an asshole to you at school by not helping you. I am honored to be your friend and ashamed of my behaviour towards you. And unlike Emma I am not going to turn on you on a whim however the old me was,thats a promise. Also this is not wasted on you, this is just helping you and it's not like I am giving you something I can't give up. It's just wasting away at home and it's the least of which I can give you. Think nothing of it.".

"Okay Ira. You are a good guy",she smiled.

"It's nothing Taylor. You are the good guy here and I am just repairing my damaged karma you could say.",I blushed and took my hand back to scratch my nose. Damn,Her hand was soft and smile lit up the world for me.

"WHATS HAPPENING HERE?",a voice thundered over me. I thought one of the endbringers had attacked.

"Cool it Dad. This is Iravan. A friend I made in school couple of days back and we are taking morning runs together", she said to the scary looking man looming over us...i think it's me.

After hearing that, He calmed down.

"Um..Hello , I am Iravan Kalvahn. Nice to meet you.", I greeted him and held out my hand in an attempt to impress him.

He stared at my had and I began to flush in embarrassment. Taylor punched her dad at his side and narrowed her eyes while looking at him.

He relaxed further and took my hand, shaking it.

"Nice to see you kid. Treat my daughter right and you will have no problems from me".

"Sure . I would never hurt Taylor and she help me two days back when I had an accident by falling down. If not for her I would have been hit by a car, so I owe her my life ", While not the total truth it's not a lie.

"Hmmm...is that so? Cool then. What is this I heard about a bTouch phone?"

I started sweating. This so not going well. "Um sir, I asked Taylor for her number so we could lan our meetings but she said due to ummm...her mom...she didn't want a phone and thus didn't have a number. She changed her mind as she realised her mother wouldn't want her to have such hang ups, so she decided to buy a phone with her savings. As i had a bTouch phone sitting idly at home I offered it to her as a gift".

He narrowed his eyes on me and scowled. "We don't need your charity boy. I can provide for my daughter on my own. No need for you look down on us".

"Sir, Thats not it sir. I am not looking down on her or you. You have raised a wonderful daughter I've had the honor of befriending, and she saved my life. It's the least I could do. Please consider it a gift", I pleaded him and mentally urged him to agree and prayed to whatever ROB out there to him do so.

Taylor was meanwhile looking between us unsure of what to say.

After studying me a bit during which I never broke the eye contact, Thanks to whatever god out there, He nodded to me giving his consent. Taylor meanwhile getting the drift smiled at her dad and turned towards me, "Alright Ira, I'll meet you after school and we can set it in the evening,is it okay with you dad?",she asked turning from to her dad. He agreed gruffly and started to leave.

"Take care boy and don't hurt my Daughter",with that he left with Taylor in tow who waved to me before following her dad. I smiled back.

After they were out of sight I crumbed down. Man that was harsh. Taylor's dad was built like a brick wall and I doubt I can get hit by him without blocking out on the spot. After a few minutes of relieved breathing, I got up and left for the Gym.

The time at the Gym was uneventful. I got run ragged by the trainers there with the weights there and without stamina replenish I was running on fumes by the time I got home. I immediately took a shower and made a lot of sandwiches and two cups worth of milk which I inhaled through immediately. Sated and Feeling Lazy I sat down in the study to start on my academics. Need to get up to speed if I wanted to ace my graduation to get into a good college.

Wait a minute. I could drop out of school and graduate early. I am already 16 and I could convince Amma to let me do so and with the way I am learning and growing now it would be easy. Already I am breezing through the materials here, though I am just catching up, I am sure I can continue this trend and Learn senior school subjects and take exams early. Hell, Taylor was smart, She could do the same.

We'll discuss when she comes here. This is a good Idea. I started on the materials again. After about two hours I was done catching up. My INT and INL leveled up twice which helped me and made it easier to understand as well as memorise the subjects. Yeap, I am going to graduate early.

I took a small break from studying during which I had gone to my room and retrieved and cleaned the box containing the bTouch phone. This was a gift from my mom for my 12th birthday. Though I never appreciated her for it, I was pretty happy with the phone. I got a new one this year as a new year gift. Checking the Mobile's condition, which was in Order, I left it for charging.

After which I had some black tea and talked with my mother over phone. I informed her of Taylor and how we had become friends without mentioning the superpower part, She first was horrified at my "Accident", then after calming her down a bit, she teased me about my first girlfriend. I sputtered a bit while she a good laugh. She told me she was genuinely happy and she would like to meet Taylor some time. I assured her she will. After which we chatted about her progress in her project which was intensive data collection and data mining about Trigger events and how it affected the Supers in the country,which was ironic and made me feel guilty since I had triggered and yet to tell her about it, we finished the conversation and promised each other to call tomorrow.

With my break over, I went to the study again, this time to research on martial arts and how to practice it besides the forms. After about fifteen minutes I got an idea. If this works I could practice my Carpentry as well as get an aide in practicing my Martial arts. I went to the home maintenance store and looked if they had any log. Buying one which was about as tall as me, I paid for it. While leaving the shop with it I saw a book on the display in the shop on the other side of the street. It was on Parkouring, figuring it could help out in my training I bought two copies, one for me and one for Taylor. I also went to the sports store for a punching bag, I bought a large sized one, gave my address so they could come and install it for me.

Taking my purchases home. I set books on the table in the living room table and lugged the log to the basement. I set on the table and went to work on it. I drilled holes so I could insert some strong stick into cylinder. And made it stick with a resin coating. After about two hours I was finished and I set the finished product down. It looked like the martial art dummies used by Jackie Chan and other martial artists. It should help me with my blocks and my strikes.

" **Your Carpentry Skill has leveled up. Also +5 Dex"**

Sweet. Maybe I could make another one for Taylor?

Just as I was clearing away the dust and waste from carpentry, I heard the doorbell ring. It was the guys from the sportshop and they had brought the Punching bag with them. I Directed them to install in the basement, Gave them a 20$ tip ad sent them off.

Now everything set up, I first started stretching my body. Then I started practicing my punches, which I did hard, Till my knuckles bled despite the bag, I covered my hands with Bandage cloth strips and continued till my head started shaking. Then I brought them to my sides and practiced Kicking. Front kick each leg 100 times, Then sidekick 100 times, Then 100 Pouches each hand. This continued for an hour and my body was shaking by now. I sat down and manually did the meditation and Power Healing. It took about about 5 minutes and 20PWR to complete it.

Then I did the exercising, Pushup, Situps, Crunches, and Head stands for another hour.

" **By diligent training you have leveled up you Martial arts by** **1\. +5STR,+5STA,+5 DEX,+5 STA"**

Ah, The fruit of my blood sweat and tears. Thou art sweet indeed.

Now I felt that I was hungry as hell ,so I went to kitchen and made a big lunch and ate 2 bowls of salad, 4 steaks, a large bowl of Rice and 2 cups of milk. I took a break and put on some progrock music station from my study computer. While listening to the music I started to search for local news on the Net.

Apparantely Empire88, the local NeoNazi group and Azn Bad Boys(ABB) had gotten into a gunfight yesterday night near the docks. By the time local Capes had arrived on the scene and broken the fight some druggies had died in the cross fire along with gang members on both sides. I also read a report on Drugs on the rise due to the Merchant gang and a snippet on an independent mercenary group calling themselves the Undersiders.

I also started memorising all the cape name and appearances if available on the net and learn their powerlist as much as possible. This may help me and Taylor in our future forays. As I furthered my research I saw how woefully prepared I am. I need to up my training if I am to help her and she's starting next week. So little time and I still haven't seen her powers and how that would work in tandem with me. And also I don't know how Taylor or Myself react if we come across a super like Lung. We at least I would be destroyed.

Damn, I need to see her training and powers and I think we need to be more prepared. At Least two more months of intense training if we were to succeed. And if we were to keep our powers secret from our family we need to move our training to our base of operations. Also two months period was without school. Though my mom would allow it as long as I keep up with my studies, I don't know about Taylor's dad. Double damn.

What to do now? As I was pondering over the questions, I got a leveled up messages over INL stat. I dismissed it without a glance. The only way we could get away with it is if we graduate early and get some part time jobs till we could support ourselves and probably steal money from the gangs themselves and apart from returning them to the society we can keep a percentage ourselves to support our alter egos. I need to level my computer skills to the maximum if I need to hack their systems. Hell after graduation I could use what I learned in programming and hacking to get myself a diploma in Computer systems.

Either we do it this way or the other way for us to become hero is only to join Wards. I distrust them. Though Amma works for the PRT, I heard enough stories about politics from her and I know it's inevitable that any non small organization would fall prey to politics, subversion and corruption. It is inevitable. Keeping it simple is what will work, especially in my targeted line of work.

A half hour of pondering went by, after which I got into studying about programming languages and Algorithms and applying what I learnt into practice. An hour later I dived into Electronics and started with simple circuit designing using Software tools.

Time was not enough to learn what I wanted to learn. I decided to forgo sleeping for a week and go with meditation alone. I altered plan with Physical Training in the Early Morning say 5, Graduation studies in the post breakfast, After about two hours a small break and then Martial Arts Practice for 3 hours. By 1 :30 Lunch and then two hours of computer studies. Then by 4 Swimming lessons. Then Dinner and Meditation for an hour to recoup for sleeping. Then by 8 Parkouring in the nearby park and home by 10. A bit risky but worth it. Then back to Electronics till midnight and Computers till 4 and another hour of meditation. Then the whole cycle starts again. I need about a week or two for getting to graduate level.

After Electronics, I waited for Taylor to show up. Just as I finished heating up the tea, I got the door ring. I called out from the kitchen to come in. And Taylor walked in.

"Hey! Sit down. I got some some tea going and Meanwhile I kept your phone on the Living table and a book on Parkouring which I just through it.I'll join you in a while".

After pouring two cups of tea, I joined her in the couch. She wore a simple blue jeans and a hoodie T-shirt. After giving her the cup, I helped her with the phone and she explored it a little. She was grinning while worked though it. I was happy.

"Thank you Ira. This was the best present ever!", She hugged me and let me go.

I ,missing the hug now, but still happy that she's happy, decided to go into the topics I wanted to discuss today.

"Taylor, How serious are you about the Hero stuff?", I asked.

Reading the mood. She took the tea in her hand and answered,"Very serious. Why are you asking Ira?".

"It's not that I doubt you, but, I just researched about crime in the Brockton Bay. We need serious, really serious if we are going to take on the crime infested streets. We need solid power, Solid strategy ah even a solid alias or two to go forward. Why? Because major gangs in Brockton bay have their own supers and even when they get arrested they escape. We can't legally take them down as bureaucracy had failed in that regards. Only way we can bring them down is cutting off their heads. That is neutralising their key figures permanently. Either by killing them or by some other means. And even after that if we need to keep crime off the street, we need jobs. Thats where the economy comes in. With the state the economy is, with no jobs, crime will rise irrespective of the number of gangs cut down. So we need to have a solution for that too. Only way we can do that is funneling the money from the Gang accounts to some shell companies which can invest in the businesses in Brockton bay. For that we need to be tech savvy and as subtle as hell."

I gave a minute pass for her to absorb all the information.

"Wards are tied down by the government. They can do shit in the long run. Think about it. They have been here for a long time. The crime is still on the rise. SO they are impotent and useless. Any organisation we join under massive oversight like the government is going to be the same. To do this One we must be confident Physically, Two we must need a lot of information, Three we must be good in infiltration, Four we NEED TIME. Time we won't get if we are to stay in the current speed of education. We need to graduate early. We need to start our shell companies which would make it untraceable to us. We need to build our resources especially money. So. Now tell me how ready are you?"

She looked speechless. I guess she didn't expect me to go on a full blown presentation on her now. After a few minutes, it looked like her consciousness caught up with the information load.

"Look Ira. I know we need a lot to do. We have powers. Powers however small have made us unique and given us an option, that is not available to ordinary folk. To do what you ask by themselves is not going to happen with out a massive undertaking and with people like Lung or the All Father ,civilians are too afraid to stand up for themselves. We can do something about it."

She replied with conviction. Then she continued, "Three months back, I was shoved into a locker filled with sanitary pads and garbage fermented for god know how long and I was stuck there in filth for a long time. It sent me into a coma. But, regardless of the trio's intention it also gave me the Option, the superpower of control over bugs.

Do you know that there are bugs out there which could kill a human being? which could weave a cloth stronger than kevlar? Which could bring down mountains despite their diminutive size? I have control over such beings. I can sense through such beings. I have at least three POV's now on you through the bugs in your room. Think about the possibilities Ira. You have a limitless potential for personal growth. We need to do something about this situation. As you said we can't lean on the government on these stuff. They are overwhelmed to take on ordinary crime let alone the supervillains. We have the power to change things and we need to do so Ira-"

.Clap...I heard clapping from the doorway. We froze. And slowly we turned towards the hallway. Today was a bad day. All our plans just went up in flames. I should stop jinxing myself.

 **Name: Iravan Kalvahn**

 **Class: ?**

 **Job: Student**

 **Age: 16**

 **Level: LV3**

 **HP: 700/700** **0.5psec Gen**

 **PWR: 3/70** **0.5psec Gen**

 **STA: 115/209** **0.5psec Gen**

 **STR: 15**

 **DEX: 17**

 **AGI: 15**

 **PCP: 12**

 **INT: 14**

 **INL: 23**

 **POINTS: 10**

 **MONEY: $0**

 **Physical Endurance Lvl 30: Due to error causing prolonged trigger event you have tolerated highest amount of pain. This has made you to tolerate high levels of pain. Also affected by meditation as mind over body rule. +5% STA at each 10 levels.**

 **Body of Endurance LVL 60: Due to tolerating high levels of pain you have developed indomitable endurance causing an increase in your health. +5% STA every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **House cleaning Lvl 7 :With each level of house cleaning you increase awareness of your surrounding. +5% PCP every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Meditation Lvl 3:With each level of meditation you understand a bit more about yourself and your surroundings. Your mind becomes clear and strong while your body becomes clear of any fatigue. You recover 50% STA, HP, PWR in 1 hour of meditation. +5%PCP +10%INL every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Research LVL skill increases you reading and comprehension speed when active.+5%INT +5%PCP every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Electronic Engineering and Comprehension LVL 5. This skill makes it possible to comprehend electronics and how to make circuits and devices from them. +2% INL +2%DEX every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Wood Crafting LVL 6. This skill makes it possible to learn the intricacies of wood working and wood carving. +2% INT +2%DEX every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Programming and Algorithm LVL 6. This skill makes it easier to learn the language of computers. Additionally it also improves your planning and decision making skills. +5% INL +5%INT every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Martial Arts LVL1: This skill makes it possible to defend yourself with your body and melee weapons. Requires diligent practise for each level. +2%STR +1%PCP +2%DEX every 10 levels of the skill.**

 **Stamina Replenish LVL1: Use your power to replenish your stamina. Uses 20% of your PWR to replenish all STA. May affect PWRGEN time after a multiple higher levels the Blowback on PWRGEN may reduce.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: The Worm and Gamer are not mine by copyright.I am just using the characters there to write a story of my own fantasy. And as such this is my first story and would like your constructive criticism.**

 **A/N2: I have deleted the previous chapter**

 **Renewal**

October 2009, Brockeridge Atlanta

A girl was sobbing near a cemetery to herself looking at the graves stones there. There were three each next to each other. It was well taken care of with fresh flowers presented in front of them. The girl was muttering sorry to herself again and again.

In the main road near the town hall of the place where that cemetery was located a van came to a screeching halt. After few minutes a Man in a Blazer and a Girl in a Blue frock with a Labcoat got down and stretched themselves.

"Well Poppet, Looks like we have arrived here. Now its time to start the show. Got your toys ready?", the man asked the little girl. The girl no more than ten years old nodded meekly. The man seeing her expression added, "Remember Poppet, Nothing matters in this life except exhibiting our base desires. You saw how people turned on each other given a little freedom from the rules tying them to civility. So enjoy the Show poppet. Don't be sad.", with that the man patted her head muttering, "Be a good girl for Uncle Jack now."

The man Jack, turned towards the Van and whistled. Three women got out, One an young adult middle eastern looking female wearing glasses as her garb, A nude catlike woman in stripes and another a woman riddled with burn scars. The latter however was fidgeting and looked as though she wanted the earth to swallow her up.

"Time to Start Miladies", with that he lit a match and threw it to the scar ridden woman whose gaze first widened and then took on a cruel visage over her face. The glass garbed woman, smirked and screamed. Silicates around them shattered and the blood massacre began.

The girl still crying the cemetery heard the cry and saw the glasses shattering around her. A horror stricken look came upon her before changing to rage. A rage which looked out of place on a high school student not more than eighteen years of age.

With that she turned towards the grave once more and swore, "Mom, Dad, Gemma I wont let the fucker who killed and defiled your corpses those years ago live anymore. This I promise as your daughter. Give me luck. Bye and Maybe I'll see you soon."

With that, she wiped away her tears and started to move towards the street, Away from the chaos as a fire started to blaze two blocks away and a figure in glass was flying in the skies showering everyone in the glass a few blocks in the other direction. Ducking in to a street on to her left, she immediately went to the basement in the house there.

Going towards a table, she opened a cache full of weapons. In a set of well practiced moves she assembled various weapons which were made of non silicate material and armored herself up. Within ten minutes she was ready. Nodding to herself, she moved out on her hunt.

The Girl went over the plan in her head. First she needed to disable their transport to prevent them from leaving the city. She slowly started searching for any undamaged Vehicles which was in a good enough size to carry equipment for their biotinker. She already the general direction from where the flames started.

Stepping over another body part, maybe a leg, she steeled her heart once more at the horror of the massacre and still going screams all over the town and moved towards the probable location in her mind making sure to keep to the small alleyways and deserted lanes to get there as she did not want to attract the attention.

Finally locating a Green Van, she noticed the Driver still sitting holding on to the steering wheel. He was wearing a manic grin on his face. A second later from her hiding place she saw a cat like woman appear near him and he stared at the woman who once damaged Alexandria, the unbreakable invulnerable woman of the Triumverate, She had the same manic grin as the Driver. Making herself small behind the dumpster near her spying position to not be discovered, she calmed her breathing and started taking shallow silent breaths. Wanting a distraction she took a smoking grenade loading it in custom sling before lobbing it off in the opposite direction. Where it hit a small bakery with a bang and made some smoke.

By the time the woman now identified by the girl as Siberian, moved to the place to investigate, she had loaded another grenade in to her sling. To test her suspicion she aimed at the car and let loose the grenade low which after traveling the hundred feet to Van, crashed in to the back of the now open van and released a fast dissipating smoke and then detonated. Mean while after launching, the observed the Siberian using her binoculars. When she heard the detonation of her special bomb, the Siberian disappeared. She patiently sat for a while, waiting for any of the much feared gang to come back, True to her expectations the Man in the Blazers, Jack Slash and the Glass Garbed woman Shatterbird came to the scene of their now smoldering transport. Jack had a look of rage in his eyes while Shatterbird was looking around in consternation.

Again, she loaded another grenade and shot it over to them, it went over them in an arc but by then Jack had located her perch. The explosion came but she was the one to black out.

When she came on to, she was not able to see. Her throat was dry and she couldn't feel anything below her neck. Her face felt like she had gone through a meat grinder. Rasping she tried to turn around a noise she heard.

"Well, Look who woke up poppet. The underpowered girl who took out your Aunty Siberian and Big sister Shatter bird. Why don't you give her some water? She looks like she could talk a bit. After all we need to be civil towards our guest as a good host right?", he laughed.

"Alright Uncle Jack.", a little kids voice answered him. That must be their new Biotinker, surmised the girl.

She felt a hand coaxing her mouth open and feed her some water. She drank it in sips before sputtering the excess fallen in to her mouth. The bottle receded.

"What do you want to say girl? Felt nice to kill some of us ain't it so?"

"Fuck you bastard. But yeah, it felt nice looking at the rage on your face as you saw that your pet projector burnt in Flames. Must have been nice seeing for someone else to figure out the secret."

Jack, not visible to her, laughed.  
"I am impressed. A non parahuman taking out two S- class capes and injuring me, taking my left had off and my right eye breaking my skull in the process. But, I am not angry. You see after we leave this place with your body dying on this table, I'll gather rest of my friends and recruit some more in the next city. Break down the helms holding the illusion of civility, I'll get new members clamoring to join us. What you did barely hurt us.", Jack proclaimed.

The Girl by now was Gnashing her teeth.

"You are hiding behind a little girl to give you invulnerability Jack. Probably terrorized her in to joining right?"

"I just merely showed her the truth. Why don't you tell her Poppet?"

"Yeah, Uncle Jack made me realize that no matter what one should always enjoy what they want freely and what everybody wants is Misery and Pain.", a young girl's voice replied flatly.

"Hah! Where's the cheer Riley. Why don't you show Uncle Jack some of your Ideas? You see girl...Riley found that you look like her pet muffles and she lost her pet when we met unfortunately. She wants you now to be her pet."

"No Uncle Jack.I like her. She reminds me of my favorite cousin Toph. Can we let her go? She's already blind and lost her legs. She can't do anything anymore, can you let her go, Please?", The girl begged.

The girls mind started to fill with cold rage at the man who caused this.

"Whats this Riley? You already have us for family. Burnscar over there in the hall is your Big Sister right? Now she's lonely missing Shatterbird and Aunty Siberian. Don't you want a little revenge. Remember how Siberian petted you and Shatterbird feed you after you joined us the first few weeks? Don't you want blood for that?"

The girl a small shuffle and sharp cry. "I don't wanna kill anymore. Mommy told me to be a good girl. I wanna go home". After which the girl felt a small pin prick on her hand. Which was the first ever feeling. Next she heard a small noise and a tearing sound.

"Not good Poppet. Trying to kill me with a Spider now. See you hurt yourself. Now who's going to help you?", the Psychopath asked. Only a whimper in answer. The Girl felt a chill to her bone. He was hurting a kid to do his bidding. But suddenly a wave of heat wash over her.

"Leave her alone Jackass.", A crash sounded after that.

"Whats this turn on Jack day? Good thing Crawler and Hatchet Face are not here with us to do their own thing. Join the Girl and Riley here Burnscar. Don't know how you got control of the flames, but you can die without seeing your Elle, Maybe I'll turn her to one of us instead of you.", Jack announced gleefully. There was a pain on her head and she saw white.

The Girl lost hope as her vision blacked out. She couldn't kill the Murderer who killed her family or save a little girl from his clutches. Ultimately she had done nothing, with Jack being alive, Slaughterhouse will continue. Her vision dimmed. She saw two great entities spiraling each other. One of the shards in them fell down on her.

[Destination]

[Agreement]

[Trajectory]

[Agreement]

[Initializing]

When she awoke again after the vision she was already forgetting, her brain was aching with the senses she was receiving. All was a cacophony of Loud Noise. She could see the Noise. She could see a figure lying over her body clutching her stomach and a small figure clutching her neck on the floor. Their hearts were slowing down and spider like creatures were now operating on both of them. She still couldn't feel her legs.

In the other side of the room another figure was struggling to stand up. Looked to be male. Seeing his heart beat, she felt rage and screamed. He fell over backwards hitting his head on the damaged part over the edge of a table there and crumpled.

She didn't stop screaming even after his heart stopped beating.

February 2011, Brockton Bay.

A small truck strode in to a Garage near a ramshackle house. A twenty something women with Red Hair and a face with freckles , a costly Travelers shade covering her eyes and also an annoyed look on her face got down. Her eyes were weary yet held a light looked determined after looking at the street. In an annoyed voice she yelled in to the back of the truck.

"Get up you sleepy heads. We are here."

A small pandemonium occurred in the back of the truck. A thirteen year old girl with black hair, brown eyes and Dusty colored skin came down first yawning as such and clutching a small dog towards her chest, following her another dusty colored woman in her late twenties got down or rather fell down after missing a step.

"Damn that operation last month. I should've listen to you guys and waited, i still can't get the balance. Atleast that burning bitch in my head is gone with those accursed powers", she mumbled. Looking concerned the first girl and the teen helped her up.

"Becca don't worry, you know Riley here. She'll fix you soon enough.", the Diver girl comforted Becca with a hug.

"Yes, Toph is right. Gimme a few weeks, you'll be right as Rain", Riley added with a bobble of her head.

Eyes misting up, "Its ok guys, now I can see Elle, who knows we can even help her also now that I am sane again.".

With that exchange the trio, started to unpack and walked in to their new home.

A week after the Girl called Toph with her ever accompanied shades started her usual morning regimen, running. As she ran through the nearby neighborhood, she was reminiscing her past year as well as monitoring the area for any potential threats. She didn't want to move again from this city after shifting town after town to avoid any trail to Brockeridge.

A couple of days after the attack news that S9 had attacked the town reached the outside world, the PRT came to see if any survivors had been left alive. They were disappointed as usual as the trio was long gone from the place. Onsite the PRT found the now Identified Dr. Manton and Shatterbirds remains as well as Jack slash's corpse. In the basement they found a dismembered body with burn scars and a small girls body which had DNA to the earlier samples they found in the other city. With that they declared four of the seven now present S9 to be dead. Crawler and Hatchet face was found to be missing while Mannequin was captured after a long hunt in Boston and was executed on the spot by the hero Mouse Protector.

After they had killed Jack Slash, She had asked Riley to set up clones of them for the PRT to find. They needed to escape from public identity to recuperate and for Becca and Riley to set up alternate identities and also they needed to deal with Becca's alternate personality while moving. Agreeing to that, Riley according to Toph's suggestion set up the clones bodies and also had made a mild relaxing drug to be consumed by Becca to keep her aggression at bay which was what was found to be the trigger for her alternate personality.

After that to move out, they searched the town for any vehicle which could help them move from the town to any other location. Finding an old beat down car, they took it and left Brockeridge and also their old lives, as a Trio of an Ex- Avenger, an Ex- Murderer and a recovering Mentally Ill Parahuman.

They had moved from town to town using the money they had scrounged from Brockeridge, they changed the Vehicle, after which using Riley skills their looks and using an black market broker with all their money for new identities. In their last stop in Boston, they using an abandoned warehouse operated on Becca to remove Corona Pollentia as well as Corona Gemma as whenever her power activated her alternate personality Burnscar showed up. This was done after a burning incident in their previous stop due to a thug cornering Becca and tried to mug her during which his gun accidentally went off shoot her in the thigh resulting her alternative personality to show up. Which then proceeded to burn the mugger as well as set the nearby buildings to fire before the blood loss knocked her out. During this time, Riley was in the motel sleeping while Toph was out getting supplies for their journey.

Shaking her head from reminiscence, she saw a park in which a couple of kids where running around in excercise. Deciding to join them she move towards them when she saw it. The boy did some thing which caused some weird waves to come from his body before settling down while the girl was carrying some disturbing amount of insects in her hair as well as body. Intrigued she started following them discreetly.

Their conversations intriguing. She followed the boy home after the meeting and noted his address. She wanted to know more. "Can they be helpful capes again?" Was the question in her mind when she went home. Riley was still in the basement setting up her Lab while Becca was sleeping, tired from the journey.

She didn't want to bring either of them in to the superhero business after what they had been through. Becca especially.  
Thinking, she went to meet Riley in the Basement. As she had suspected, There was a growing scientist's lab under the basement. Though she had forbidden Riley from using Bonespiders again to distance Riley from her villainous past.

"Hey Kiddo. Hows the Lab coming up?", she asked.

"I need lot more equipments Toph. If we are staying her permanently I can start building some more complicate equipments and some autonomous drones to help me, not the bone spiders but some other designs. I also have some more experiments to be carried out for which I need some monkeys as well as test rabbits. But, should really go to school?", she pouted.

"Yeah Riley, you need to make some friends. I know that we are your family. But, you need friends of your age too. And apart from your tinkering you need to learn other skills Riley. And I also need to get my GED as I had dropped out of High School. School'll be fun too. Give it a try.", after giving a thoughtful glance she gave an enthusiastic nod.

"I have a question actually. I found some interesting kids, maybe highschool while running. They may be new parahumans, but I overheard they are going to become independent superheroes. I am thinking to talking to them. What do you think?", Toph asked.

Riley considering the question in her head, "I think you can guide them and give them some skills. We did collect some local bounties over our travels for money. That could help. You can join them but you should let me also come with you. It'll be fun.", she started serious and then reverted to her kid persona. Rolling her eyes at Riley's antics, She ruffled her hair to which Riley stuck her tongue at her.

"Its okay Kiddo. I know what you want. Let me tell you again, what you did under Jack was under his compulsion. You were little kid for god sake. I know you want to make it right. The right time will come. And I will help you help people again. Who knows here in Brockton Bay we may actually get to help people. Just wait a little longer while I scope out the scene out there. First we need to make sure it is safe for you and that I can protect you. You know people out there will do anything for tinker especially for a Tinker of your Specialization. So wait a bit, little Rabbit".

Coming to an understanding they chatted up a bit about what Toph had learnt about the neighborhood, before getting ready to get the house ready and livable.

In the evening Toph wearing her now Trademark glasses, was out in the neighborhood of the boy. Her powers gave her control and ability to sense sound. With which she could see. Her brain has now been required to not use her eyes which was already damaged.

This power though gave her a great surveillance ability in the area around her. Using it, she saw the boy and the girl getting in to a heated discussion. Hearing about their passionate speech, she smirked and entered the house, clapping. They froze.

"Hello Guys. M'names Toph Sanders and Good Speech. Heartfelt but naive. This is a Goodway to die by discussing your powers in the open even if you felt you were prepared. Shall we take the conversation to somewhere private like a basement?", and smirked looking at their flabbergasted faces.

A/N: Jask Slash's power is a bit wonky after the blast as he couldn't do his usual shtick to convince other parahumans to see his way due to brain damage. Changed the chapter as I felt the last one was not satisfying. Let me know what you think. Another Chapter will be out next week or sooner.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: The Worm and Gamer are not mine by copyright.I am just using the characters there to write a story of my own fantasy. And as such this is my first story and would like your constructive criticism.**

 **Initiation**

"Hello Guys. M'names Toph Sanders and Good Speech. Heartfelt but naive. This is a Goodway to die by discussing your powers in the open even if you felt you were prepared. Shall we take the conversation to somewhere private?"

I was gaping at our intruder. You don't just walk in a cape's house and introduce yourselves like that! Taylor was starting to gather the bugs which were starting to buzz around her. The woman was athletic but shorter than Taylor but taller than me which put her around 5' 8'' with an attractive face with red hair with blond highlights and her eyes were covered up by a pair of Sunglasses.

I and Taylor got in to a combat ready state at which the woman, Toph, put up her hands placatingly.

"Hey, hey! I know I broke the unwritten rules and all, but I can't help but hear your conversations, I must say rather passionate ones actually. You see,", with that she removed her sun glasses and we gasped. Her pupils were white, was she fucking blind?, "I am blind and while triggering i lost a part of my brain which controls vision. My power is a kind of Sound control and a passive SONAR sense. Great for surveillance not so great for other's conversations."

We paused at that. I looked at Taylor for a second. So many questions abounded. In my research I found reference to Unwritten rules but nothing concrete on that as such, but, by my inference I found that they were there to protect Cape identity irregardless of a Cape's affiliation. To me that was bullshit propagated by incompetence. And this woman has come here possibly threatening us.

"How do we trust you? We don't even know if your name's true. I do agree, you don't look like you belong to the major three gangs in this city with your powers and all. But, you broke the rules by intruding. The only thing holding us back is that you didn't attack us and your anonymity. So tell us why ?.", I asked hotly. A swarm started to gather in the kitchen through the windows and the back door. I could only hope that we were unnoticed.

"Little buggy here thinks she can fight ! Let me tell you, this is the worst reaction you can give to a new cape you meet.", she raised here gestured to us with her index finger and continued,

"Point one I want to make is that you need help. And as I pointed out it was inevitable for me to not hear your conversation with my powers, so surprised that you guys decided to go independent with a damn good reason, I decided to introduce myself and if possible introduce you to my family.

"You have little time to prepare, trust me. Maybe three months or less without attention. No person with superpowers can go under notice for a longer time than that by statistics. The reason that there are low number of independents in life, is because by six months they either die or get assimilated in to gangs and note that the gangs here include the PRT. So you need back up, which is where I come in.", she took a deep breath and raised another finger

"Point two is I and my family have been in the cape scene a bit longer than you have, let me ask you a question. In one of your operation after you go live, you get hurt, where can you go for treatment? In case your operation needs to be unnoticed by others, i.e. anonymous, you can't go to a hospital. So who will treat you?"

Taylor and I looked at each other. We had no one. I know I can heal myself and if Taylor gets hurt, seriously I cant think we can go unnoticed. If we do go to a hospital, inevitably we would come under PRT's notice and they would want to know what happened. That wouldn't do. Atleast initially. Looking at our reactions, She smirked.

"My sister is a Medically oriented tinker. She can help you maybe even upgrade you with a brute-mover package. Help you test your power's limits and etcetera. For example by PRT standards I am a Brute 2, Mover 2, Shaker 6, Blaster 6 and Thinker 2. Of which only Blaster, Shaker and a Lower Thinker rating was mine. She helped me and her other sister to be more tough and smart, though with your powers I doubt you need the additional Thinker ratings as such.", She raised another finger,

"Point three, is you guys need to have fun. So I'll be the Friend/Mentor/ PR guide/ Fashion mom in the team.", she finished with a flourish.

We were flabbergasted at the last point. Though the other points made sense, Taylor and I turned towards each other. Taylor shrugged, "Well, those are good points. We do need help". I grimaced. Yeah, I saw the results of the research where the statistics came from. She was right and I also needed time to figure out my abilities. I nodded. We do have some questions actually.

"I think we may need to think on it. But we have some questions actually. Are any of your member wanted for any big crime? That would land us in trouble if they were to be discovered?", Taylor asked.

"Maybe... Look it was long back and they were forced in to it. That is all I can say. Now one wants to help people and the other just wants to be left alone. Other than that it's their story to tell. Though I look to them as family, but we are what you can say...um...we kinda adopted?...yeah thats right, adopted each other after finding and saving each other's lives, and their past is their stories to tell.", by the looks of it she was uncomfortable to talk about it. Atleast she was honest and loyal.

"Atleast you are honest. Point to you though. So in summary, you want to help us and want to team up with you as Independent Heroes. And just to confirm, you have no gang affiliations now regardless of your past, Right?", I asked.

"Yes to the last question and For the first Yes,Thats my proposal.", she nodded in agreement.

"Alright. I think we can go with it. What do you say Taylor? We need to start somewhere." I asked Taylor. "I agree. When can we meet your family?" She asked Toph.

"Just give me a minute, I'll inform them to get ready.", with that she rose while taking out her phone and dialling somebody I think? She talked to someone in the phone but it was muffled a bit. She put away her phone and turned to us.

"We can leave now actually. We came to town just yesterday night and settling down. So we are free. What about you guys?", she asked. Taylor looked at me and shrugged. I was okay with it and with my schedule for the day broken, it's better to finish everything today. I nodded in agreement and we left for her home.

Her house was rundown. And by the looks of it they had just moved in too. Also there were two mexican looking sisters or atleast I think sisters outside. One was tall, even taller than Taylor and voluptuous but with muscles and a stern looking expression and the other was a thirteen looking girl who would in the future grow in to that stern looking woman wearing an excited expression.

"Here we are guys. Sorry for the rundown look. We just moved in yesterday. This tall mexican babe is Becca and her sister look alike is Riley and these are my family." So Becca must be the doctor she mentioned. Her sister looked too young and too enthusiastic for a researcher. Lacks patience.

Both gave a wave to us as Taylor introduced us. Riley almost bounced from her place towards us and surprisingly gave each of us a small handshake with a big smile and an excited hello. She was adorable.

"Lets go inside for our conversation. Tea anybody?", Becca asked and we answered in negative. She shrugged and sat down on a double couch and we each took a chair in the main living room. As they said they still had some unpacking to do and some of the stuff were really new.

"Okay. Taylor and Iravan here are new capes. They are planning to go independent or Rogue Hero route as they found just like us that the PRT were incompetent especially here in this city and they were planning accordingly when I overheard their conversation, Excited by their passion I introduced myself to them and invited them here. Since we are also a new team here, I am thinking of teaming up with them. So, I told them of my powers, you guys can tell yours.", Toph summed up the situation.

Riley nodded enthusiastically, "I am a Biotinker. I can give treat any medical conditions including death but for resurrection I need the head intact and also in a short time within death and also I can do enhancements. I did the operation on Becca there to help with the problems her powers brought. All of us cybernetically enhanced and also have brute enhancements, giving Brute 2 ,Mover 2 and Thinker 1 ratings. If you want I can give them to you too. Also, I want to really help people, for that I am developing medicines and new medical practices which can help people with diseases, dismemberment and also gene therapy.", At the end her enthusiasm took a dip and was replaced by a determination. Oh fuck, talk about being wrong.

And wow. She really is enthusiastic. And a biotinker? Thats good but, she looks too young for this. I mean she must be what vista's age and must have been active for about a year or so? Right?. Triggered young and must have been really bad wherever they came from. Only other biotinker her age would be Bonesaw who is dead now.

Becca took her turn next but looked reluctant, "I used to be a Pyrokinetic but, my powers came with a lot of baggage which made it hard to control. I had hurt a lot of people in the past without meaning to till Riley finally found a way to remove my powers but gave me a brute-mover package and working on something else to add. But, I don't care about powers or Cape business, I just want to protect her and Toph."

I commented, "Wow, if Toph there was a Silicatekinetic, I would have said you guys were remnants of the Slaughterhouse nine" and laughed at my own comment. I stopped after a couple of seconds noticing the pin drop silence.

Riley was fidgeting, Becca looked sad and Toph looked pissed. Oh, fuck! Taylor looked at me in Alarm. A biotinker and a former pyrokinetic? Were they Bonesaw and Burnscar. Weren't they dead? My knees started shaking. Riley looked like she was about to cry after seeing our reactions.

"Chillout.", Toph interrupted. "I promise you, that you wont be harmed."

Taylor, "So-". Toph raised a hand and nodded. "But-" Toph interrupted again.

"We staged the deaths. Jack slash had personally killed my family when I was out of town for a school camp when I was 12. Orphaned I moved to Brockeridge. And started to prepare myself to take revenge and started training myself for taking them down when I was old enough. Luckily two years back, they visited my town. Arming myself and through stealth and lots of firempower I took out Siberian who turned out to be a Projection and Shatterbird. Riley here was not an enthusiastic member with the nine at the time as they were with her only for two years and joined only because Jack killed her family over and over again till she gave up on life and coerced her to join. Personally I think He had a master level rating he couldn't have controlled those unstable parahumans without a master level power. Moving on, While attacking Jack Slash, I was captured. Since, I looked like family to Riley, she refused to torture me.", Riley winced at this point and did not look up at us looking ashamed. Taylor looked like she wanted to hug her. Becca did so. But, Toph continued in an even tone.

"Jack, not liking to not be in control tried to kill her, Becca was a new member and was a member of S9 as her powers worked with only her alternate murderous personality which came out whenever there was fire, tried to save Riley but got cut down. In the commotion I triggered. Fun fact. When you trigger and black out, so do the other parahumans in the room with you. So when I came back to, Jack, who was already injured by my bomb earlier was struggling to get up, I screamed a sonic attack at him, making him fall on a Bone spider which was collecting tools behind him and died. The other members of S9 as you know were not in the town at the time. We escaped after staging our deaths as we didn't want the Protectorate of the PRT to capture Riley or Becca. After a lot of migration and a bit of bounty hunting we got enough money to settle here. Ofcourse, I while jogging today morning stumbled on to your conversation and again so in the evening. You guys being new and all I was impressed by your talking to and crashed your party and here we are", Toph finished as though she was summarising a movie.

We were struck dumb. Fuck! This was huge. I didn't know what to say. Taylor looked stone faced and her bugs were buzzing. Fuck! atleast they were trying to live their lives free of their pasts but, they were murderers. Taylor looked at me and gave me a nod.

"I am Taylor. I am Bug master and can control all arthropods within a one block radius with precision. This also gave me a side effect for unlimited parallel processing ability. I have decided to give you guys a chance. Also, since you guys told me your pasts, let me tell mine, My mom died in a Car accident and later my best friend got turned on me by another bitch. They bullied me with escalating pranks which the teachers and the administration ignored for two years making me a school Pariah. Last month as the start of school year, they pushed me and locked me in my locker with the used products they had left weeks earlier before the holidays to ferment. I lost hope after no one turned out to help me after what seemed liked days. I triggered then. I found Ira here in an Alley. And decided to join him in Cape activities"

I continued. "I am a minor brute and mover. Actually, i have an innate knowledge on how much skills I have and what to do to improve on it. Also I have an internal energy manipulation ability which I am still trying to figure out. Also I learn things quickly. I also have no problem with you guys if you are trying to be good.I am also an Amnesiac as I don't remember anything before Taylor finding me. She helped me find my home and what I know is from reading from journals I had written as an hobby.", with that Toph who was cool till now brightened up while Riley jumped Taylor and then me for a hug. Ah! What a heart warming scene.

With that we decided that we needed a break and separated to meet up tomorrow. Taylor also wanted to go home to think on what we were talking earlier and about Toph's proposal to join. I needed to think about how their joining up would affect our plans. Frankly speaking this will both give us options and some complications especially with Riley in the mix. Biotinkers are kind of looked upon with negative connotations with Riley's Bonesaw episode, Blasto and Nilbog. We need to keep her a secret or spin her specialization towards something else. Also, since bonesaw was confirmed dead and them looking like nothing like their former appearance should give us a lot of leeway.


End file.
